1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for processing a received packet in a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer of an Ethernet, and in particular, to a method for processing an error in the received packet.
2. Description of the Related Art
A local area network (LAN) interconnects a group of data communication terminals within a limited area. This type of LAN topology is classified into bus type, ring type, star type and tree type. The bus type network is the most commonly used network, and the Ethernet is one of the oldest communication protocols for communication terminals implemented in the bus physical topology.
Meanwhile, a MAC layer of the Ethernet processes a packet received from a physical layer. When an error occurs during the reception of data from the physical layer, the MAC layer performs the corresponding error processing operation. More specifically, when an error occurs in the packet exceeding 64 bytes while receiving the packet from the physical layer, the MAC layer receives the entire packet and transmits the received packet to the next stage along with an error signal indicating the occurrence of an error in the received packet. A MAC protocol standard and a logical link control (LLC) protocol standard, including the error processing method for the received data in the MAC layer, have been published by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802 Committee and certified by ISO (International Standard Organization).
According to the above standards, when an error occurs in the packet not exceeding 64 bytes while receiving the packet, the MAC layer will discard the error packet. However, when an error occurs in a packet exceeding 64 bytes, the MAC layer will receive the entire packet and transmit the received packet to the next stage (e.g., switch), along with an error signal indicating the occurrence of the error. Therefore, the receipt of the unnecessary error packet causes an increase in the overhead of the system. In particular, a switch in the next stage receiving the error packet wastes time by receiving the unnecessary error packet, thereby causing a degradation of the system performance.